Oops
by Nigelcat1
Summary: Lucius Malfoy gets away with most things, he evens fools the Dark Lord - or so he thinks. He is in for a surprise and more torture than a Cruciatus.


OOPS

Disclaimer: J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.

Note: G = galleons so that G1,000 would mean 1,000 galleons. _

"Lucius," said the dread Dark Lord Voldemort "You know how greatly I favor you do you not," the Dark Lord asked Lucius Malfoy before the assembled Death Eaters (except for Severus Snape who hadn't been summoned to this special meeting).

Lucius bowed low as he did indeed know just how much he had been favored in the Dark Lord's Inner Circle. Granted, the first chance he got he betrayed his Lord, pleading the Imperious to get out of going to Azkaban like the other "real" Death Eaters had done. But apparently he had yet again managed to escape an "unfortunate" fate since the dread Dark Lord had forgiven him his transgressions once he had explained his "real reasons" for his apparent betrayal.

"My Lord, I live only to serve your greatness," came Lucius' slimy reply. He knew that he had done many things which his Lord and the other Death Eaters would seriously disapprove of but, he thought much to his relief that his dread Dark Lord had not found out and never would.

However, the dread Dark Lord knew most (but not all as even Lucius himself couldn't remember) of the "mischief" and out right betrayals of not only him but his fellow Death Eaters, relatives and the few (very few) people he called friends or at least trusted enough to consider true allies. Now he was going to use this information to his utmost advantage.

"I always knew just how faithful Lucius Malfoy was to the cause and just how faithful he was to ME," the Dark Lord began his address to his followers. None of them knew, however, just how much their dread Dark Lord despised them all. He knew exactly what they thought, thanks to his mastery of legitimacy and occlumency, but he, being the very intelligent person/wizard that he was, would never let them know his real thoughts and reasons for doing the things he did.

"That is why," he continued carefully, "I entrusted Lucius Malfoy with my most prized possession. Lucius froze hoping that this would not go any further. He was to be very disappointed.

"You see," continued Voldemort, "I entrusted Lucius with what would appear to be, at first glance, a journal. "In reality," Voldemort continued knowing that Lucius would shortly be in a very, very precarious position, "I entrusted him with the most precious possession that I owned."

Lucius felt his stomach start to churn as the Dark Lord continued. "I entrusted him with the Slytherin Grimoire disguised as a boyhood journal of mine." The Dark Lord waited listening to the oohs and aahs of the assembled Death Eaters. They were all jealous of their Lord's decision to entrust Lucius Malfoy with so precious a possession as it showed just how highly valued Malfoy was by their Lord. Many would like to tell the Dark Lord just what Lucius had been up to since his "disappearance" but so great was Lucius' political power and his total lack of morals, the risk was too great as it would be their word against Lucius.

Lucius Malfoy, however, was desperately trying to not faint, vomit, soil himself as well as assorted other embarrassing things that he could possibly do in front of the assembled Death Eaters. To make matters so much worse, the Dark Lord actually placed his arm around Lucius' shoulder in an act that could only be interpreted to the assembly as trust – and by the Dark Lord no less.

What Lucius did not know was that Voldemort DID KNOW that the "journal" which had been destroyed by a basilisk fang, was indeed just a boyhood journal of a young Dark Lord. Granted it was a Horcrux, but since 99.44% of the Wizarding population didn't know what a Horcrux was, Voldemort was not worried. Well, actually he was as it was 1/7th of what was left of his soul, but Lucius didn't know that.

What Lucius and the other Death Eaters only thought they knew was that Lucius Malfoy had been given the unbelievable honor by their Lord of guarding the Grimoire of Slytherin! To have such an honor/responsibility – well most of the Death Eaters would have given ANYTHING to behold this precious tome let alone to be entrusted with it as it was such an honor and sign of trust.

Had anybody chosen to look closely at Lucius Malfoy they would have seen that said Lucius Malfoy was slowly turning a nasty, unhealthy looking shade of green. He was turning this color as he knew that the "journal" which had been entrusted to him had already been turned over to "lesser wizards" and had, unfortunately for him, been destroyed by Harry Potter. The fact that it had been Harry Potter of all people who was the cause of the destruction of the journal/Grimoire paled in comparison since the Grimoire HAD BEEN DESTROYED.

That it was Slytherin's Grimoire was bad enough but that it HAD BEEN DESTROYED was so mind boggling that Lucius Malfoy could not now or probably ever come up with an excuse as to why it HAD BEEN DESTROYED. DAMNATION – THIS WAS THE SLYTHERIN GRIMOIRE FOR MERLIN'S SAKE AND LUCIUS MALFOY HAD, INADVERTENTLY TO BE SURE, BEEN THE CAUSE OF ITS DESTRUCTION.

NO ONE, be they Pure Bloods, Dumbledore's minions or any other Magical could condone or forgive the fact that a Grimoire, let alone such a Grimoire, had been destroyed. ANY AND ALL Magicals would condemn the destruction of a Grimoire as it was considered a very great crime. The fact that it was Slytherin's Grimoire was even more unforgivable. What was Lucius Malfoy to do?

He had missed most of the words that his Lord had said regarding trust, etc. and the Grimoire and all he had really heard was that he, Lucius Malfoy, was to stop whatever he was doing and fetch the Grimoire IMMEDIATELY, because, after all, there was a vast amount of knowledge to be obtained from the contents of this very holy book and every second that the book was not in the possession of Voldemort was a total and complete waste.

Only Voldemort knew the seriousness of Lucius' dilemma and it was making his evil heart glad to witness the man's discomfort. He couldn't wait to hear Lucius' excuse and neither could the rest of the assembly as a few started noticing Lucius' mounting anxiety especially the fact that for once he seemed at a loss for words.

Voldemort had stopped talking while he watched Lucius squirm. He waited patiently (for him at least) to hear the excuse, but since the now trembling wizard wasn't answering, Voldemort once again ordered Lucius to fetch the Grimoire.

Lucius was now paler than usual and he seemed to have trouble breathing because he was not answering his Lord nor was he going off the retrieve the Grimoire. A few whispers were heard coming from the other Death Eaters and now the unflappable Malfoy started swaying.

Poor Lucius then did the only thing he could think of – he fainted. He fell hard and very ungracefully at the feet of the Dark Lord, who wore a small smile. He waited for an entire minute before he revived the wizard and demanded an explanation.

Lucius then sputtered out the only thing he could think to say which hopefully would put the blame on someone else and although he would probably be cruciated to the point of insanity, he just might survive – maybe – if the famous Malfoy luck held.

He fell to his knees and began to speak slowly, breathing heavily and with his head bowed so that Voldemort couldn't look into eyes and read his thoughts. "My Lord" he said "I was away from home one day when a Ministry raid led by that blood-traitor Arthur Weasley invaded the sanctuary of my home and seized several items he declared dark. By the time I found out about this outrage and confronted him, the vile excuse for a Pureblood and a wizard had the effrontery to tell me that Dumbledore had authorized the invasion and had the journal and several other items in his possession."

"Weaselwipe – which is what my son calls members of that shameful family – then informed me that I had to talk to Dumbledore about the retrieval of my unlawfully seized possessions." He took another deep breath before saying "And I did so as soon as possible but Dumbledork – the nickname the Slytherins students call him – laughed in my face and stated that he had looked it over, decided it was dark magic and it was going to be destroyed as soon as he finished studying it."

There was an ominous silence so Lucius added "I have spent the last two years desperately trying to force Dumbledore to return the things he basically had Weaselwipe steal from my home but not even Cornelius Fudge has been able to convince him to return anything that Dumbledore orders seized and declares dark."

Still on his knees and with his head bowed Lucius waited for his Lord to say or do something as the silence was unnerving. He had heard the intake of breath from the other Death Eaters who were also eagerly waiting to hear the Dark Lord's comments and there were some who were hoping that it would mean the death of Lucius Malfoy.

However, Voldemort was in a playful mood (for him at least) and said or did nothing for exactly 90 seconds letting Lucius squirm and the others wait. You could smell the fear and anticipation radiating from the assembly and since the fear of others was one of Voldemort's favorite things, he savored it until it looked as if Lucius was again about to faint.

Finally Voldemort took pity (of a sort) on Lucius and decided to end his current misery and begin the next one which would definitely hurt Lucius more than any Cruciatus. Besides most of the Death Eaters were going crazy waiting to hear and see what punishment would befall the arrogant Malfoy.

"Would you be willing to swear to that on your life and magic?" Voldemort asked as he watched Lucius freeze and start to once again sway as if he would faint.

"I only ask this of you because I heard – from very reliable sources – that you had been alerted to the raid, took certain dark items from your home – especially my journal – and tried to sell them at Burgin and Burkes. Since they were not buying as they were under closer scrutiny than usual, you stored all but one item in the Lestrange vault which your wife has access to and the remaining one – my journal – you snuck into the cauldron of Arthur Weasley's youngest child while they were buying school books."

Voldemort paused to intensify the suspense as well as to watch Lucius Malfoy squirm. The man still wouldn't look his Lord in the eye but he was now visibly shaking and turning paler and greener at the same time – a very unusual feat.

"I heard about certain things which happened during Harry Potter's second year, such as he is a parselmouth, was rumored and believed by fools to be the true Heir of Slytherin, that 'someone' had revived and let loose the 1,000 year old basilisk after opening the Chamber of Secrets, students were being petrified until finally, Harry Potter poked his nose into things, killed the basilisk, rescued an unworthy damsel in distress and the journal was completely destroyed and THEN put into the possession of Albus Dumbledore who is even now closely studying it."

A very audible gulp was heard coming from Lucius as he realized that the Dark Lord knew all and he was a doomed wizard. He desperately hoped for a quick Avada Kedavra but knew he wouldn't get off that easy as this was the SLYTHERIN GRIMOIRE which he had caused to be lost, destroyed and brought to the attention of the last wizard anyone would want to know about such a treasure - a now totally and forever lost treasure - and it was all his fault.

There was silence for several minutes until Mulciber couldn't stand it any longer and shouted out "My Lord, please allow us to torture this piece of traitorous filth for weeks until he finally dies for his betrayal."

Others agreed with him and started begging their Lord to punish Lucius for committing one of the greatest crimes in the magical world and doing it against the Dark Lord.

Had Lucius really destroyed the Slytherin Grimoire he would have met a horrible fate. However, he had done something much worse – he destroyed Voldemort's Horcrux and death, even by torture for weeks by all the Death Eaters was too good for him.

Besides, Voldemort had need of Lucius due to his contacts at the Ministry, his great wealth and influence among the elite. However, he would decree a punishment on Lucius that would hit him where it really hurt – his bank account!

Voldemort let the other Death Eaters vent their spleen against Lucius who was too frightened to even beg for forgiveness as he knew he deserved none. The only mercy he MIGHT receive was a quick death and/or perhaps the survival of his son.

Finally the Dark Lord called for silence declaring that he had decided on Lucius' punishment. Everybody eagerly awaited the final pronouncement as it should be horrendous.

"First I am going to inform my faithful about some of the other things I found out you were doing not only before my 'incapacitation' which some will find interesting."

Voldemort began telling the things he had found out by accident and then by research. Lucius had pulled some very nasty things against his friends and relatives, such as compelling Bellatrix (his own sister-in-law) to disobey his orders and go after the Longbottoms, forcing her husband, brother-in-law and Barty Crouch, Jr. to accompany her. It was all to acquire two inheritances for his son and he had actually told Karkaroff to out Barty (who had originally escaped capture by the Aurors) and then did all in his power to prevent his in-laws from pleading the Imperious like he did.

He had done something similar to two other houses as well as seeing that others had been denied the use of the Imperious defense to gain inheritances and/or a share of the fines the Ministry had levied on the convicted. He had "saved" the Lestrange inheritance by heavy bribery as since Draco was the heir, it would be detrimental to an "innocent" child who would lose what was rightfully his due.

In other words, he had used, abused, swindled and betrayed several of his fellow Death Eaters for personal gain and was still doing it through shady business deals. This infuriated everybody almost as much as the destruction of the Grimoire and if Lucius somehow survived Voldemort's wrath he would definitely have to watch his back.

"I will not kill or even _physically_ torture Lucius Malfoy" Voldemort said and then paused for effect. Lucius had a glimmer of hope and there was shock from the Death Eaters. "The only reason for not giving Lucius what he so truly deserves is because I have need of him for the moment."

"However, he will not go unscathed as now I must do an impossible task and try to recreate the Grimoire. Some things I can recall from memory, but since I had finally found it shortly before my _'incapacitation'_ and hadn't had sufficient time to fully study it, much research must be done to recreate it. It will be very expensive as I don't have the time to travel to other countries, find certain rare tomes, hunt down the hidden artifacts, etc. Others must do much of the work for me and it will be time-consuming and EXPENSIVE."

"Therefore, Lucius will have two days to acquire a certain sum – in cold, hard cash – and bring it to me so that I can commence the recreation of the Grimoire which we will need now more than ever. I want G1,000,000 in cash and the equivalent of G1,000,000 divided into Muggle British Pounds Sterling, American dollars and non-Goblin made gold and silver bullion."

There was a great intake of breath among the assembled because G2,000,000 was not only an enormous sum but there were fees associated with any large withdrawal from Gringotts.

During the first war, many people fled with their families and their wealth and didn't return after Voldemort's defeat. Apparently, they found living in other countries – mostly Canada, the USA and Australia a lot better than Britain. They had more freedom, an extremely less corrupt Ministry of Magic, a better chance of earning a good living and their children would definitely receive a better education than they would get at Hogwarts. Since Dumbledore took over and he had dumb down things and got rid of most of the courses originally offered at Hogwarts because he considered them "dark" or not needed and that old ridiculous standby of his "The Muggleborns will be confused and frightened off."

That had been one of the main reasons for Voldemort's revolution - he didn't call it a war. Initially he was revolting against Dumbledore, couldn't do it legally due to the old $*#&$#&#'s status and manipulations and had been gleefully destroying Tom Riddle's reputation and possible career in Magical Britain. It was almost as if he wanted a war so that he could defeat another "Dark and Evil Wizard" and acquire a hero status for future generations.

Because so many wizards and witches left never to return, Dumbledore had proposed laws making it very difficult if someone wanted to leave the country for any reason. You could leave without a problem if you had no money but if you had a business, an estate and a large bank account, you were fined. Unless you could prove that the money leaving your vault was for living expenses and/or investments – in Britain only - you could only take out a certain amount per month without a special "tax" being levied.

For instance, if you bought a house, furnishings and jewelry or made an investment in Britain and it could be proven, you were fine. However, if you bought a house in another country or transferred your Gringotts account to another Gringotts or (heaven forbid) any Muggle bank you had to pay a fee to the Goblins and a "tax" to the Ministry of Magic. The more money you took out the higher the fees and taxes. It also alerted the Ministry you were moving large amounts of money out of the country, buying something you shouldn't or contributing to an illegal organization.

As Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards (the "ICW") and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Dumbledore had to be alerted to such transactions and he usually had the person investigated to see if they were potentially going dark or doing something totally illegal (in his opinion). That was how he kept tabs on people.

Besides the fees the Goblins also made a lot of money in bribes. They got the fees and the bribes were not to tell the Ministry and/or alert Dumbledore. It worked out to the same amount but the Ministry and Dumbledore didn't know about it (the Goblins had to swear a sacred oath) and to some people it was well worth it.

But it was extremely expensive. If Lucius withdrew G2,000,000 he would be charged G200,000 by the Goblins for their fees and not to tell the Ministry. Since it was such a huge amount of money, Lucius knew that he would probably have to pay more than G200,000 to hide the fact as well as other charges. Since he had to get the Pounds Sterling and American Dollars, he would also be paying a currency transaction charge (about 5%-10% depending on the market) and he didn't dare think what he would be charged for the non-Goblin made ingots. Also since Voldemort wanted it in two days there would probably be another fee to expedite the transactions.

Lucius had been so busy thinking about just how much this would cost him that he failed to listen to Voldemort ordering him to get moving. A painful cruciatus got his attention and off he went to do his Lord's bidding.

Lucius had been horribly correct as the fees, bribes, currency exchange transactions and extra fees/bribes to have it all done and delivered to Voldemort in 48 hours had been outrageous. The final total for everything (including the large expandable trunk containing the cash/bullion for which he was charged heavily) amounted to G2,485,000. It had saved his life for the moment and that of his family BUT he was still on probation and warned that no other forgiveness would be given if he failed his Lord again.

Voldemort had a large amount of money to do with what he wanted. Of course he wasn't going to recreate a Grimoire but he did have plans for the money. He was having the Dwarfs rebuild an estate he had inherited from a mentor which had fallen into disrepair. He was going to use it as the ultimate bolt hole and few – if any – would know of its existed let alone be allowed to enter.

He had known poverty all his life, despite the fact that once he was out of Hogwarts and got a job at Burgin and Burkes (the only job he could get despite his brilliance and talents thanks to Dumbledore) he tried to claim his father's estate. He had - helped a lot by compulsion charms – but unfortunately, lawyer fees and inheritance taxes ate up more than half. He also learned that his family wasn't as wealthy as they looked due to his paternal grandfather's making some very bad investments.

Still it had been enough to pay the yearly taxes, pay the caretaker and finance his travels. Unfortunately, it was not enough to fix it up after years of neglect and his short (again thanks to Dumbledore) attempt at a legitimate political career had fallen flat.

So he created the Death Eaters and acquired money for the running of his organization by fair means and foul. He could dress well and have two personal house elves and a small bolt hole (which no one knew about) but his elves were "given a home" by Malfoy and, as it usually happened with Malfoy house elves, met with a sad end.

So Lucius' "fine" was going to finance a better lifestyle for him and the Muggle money and bullion were going to be deposited in a Muggle bank just in case he had to run for it and start over again.

Unknown to the Death Eaters, Barty, Jr. had NOT been kissed by a Dementor because he had been wearing the paranoid Moody's Dementor amulet (totally illegal but hey it was Moody). Fudge had ordered him kissed and then turned away because he didn't want to witness such a horrible fate. Barty had only fainted (well who wouldn't) and the since Dementors couldn't talk he couldn't tell Fudge that he hadn't completed his mission.

But since it was told that Barty had been kissed, nobody bothered checking on him and left him alone. When he awoke, he immediately fled for his life and contacted his master. It was decided that his survival not be made known as he truly was one of the few devoted followers which Voldemort had. Instead, once the money was received, Voldemort sent Barty off to do some errands for him.

Besides if Boy-Who-Lived-to-Annoy-Him somehow managed to _"incapacitate"_ him again, he needed a devoted follower to resurrect him again and Barty was the ONLY entity besides Nagini who he could trust.

Things were definitely going to be different THIS TIME and with the money provided to him personally (other funds would be contributed to the rebellion effort) he had plans to win or at least survive to fight another day.

He had lost a Horcrux but gained a fortune with the prospect of getting more if Lucius, or another rich follower, failed him. For the first time since his _"incapacitation"_ he felt hopeful.

Now he and Barty were going shopping!


End file.
